The answer is to configure Cloud CDN to cache more content and increase the cache hit ratio. This directly reduces egress costs because a higher cache hit ratio means more user requests are served from the CDN edge cache rather than traveling back to the origin server, which minimizes the volume of data transferred from the origin to the edge and, critically, lowers the data served from the edge to users—the primary driver of egress charges. On the Google Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer exam, this concept tests your understanding of how caching strategies impact cost optimization in a global content delivery network; a common trap is focusing on origin-side compression or scaling, which reduces bandwidth but does not address the egress cost per byte served from the CDN. Remember the memory tip: “Hit the cache, not the origin—every miss is a cost you’re missing.”
PCDOE Managing Google Cloud costs Practice Question
This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of managing google cloud costs. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses Cloud CDN to deliver content globally. They notice increasing egress costs. Which change will most effectively reduce egress costs?
Switch to a premium tier network for lower egress rates.
Why wrong: Premium tier has higher per-GB egress costs than standard tier.
B
Enable gzip compression for all responses.
Why wrong: Compression reduces data size but Cloud CDN charges per byte after compression; still, egress costs are based on the compressed size, so savings are limited.
C
Use Cloud Armor to block malicious traffic.
Why wrong: Cloud Armor protects against attacks but does not reduce legitimate egress costs.
D
Configure Cloud CDN to cache more content and increase cache hit ratio.
Higher cache hit ratio reduces the amount of data fetched from the origin, lowering egress costs.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure Cloud CDN to cache more content and increase cache hit ratio.
Increasing the cache hit ratio reduces the number of requests that reach the origin server, which directly lowers the volume of data transferred from the origin to the CDN edge. Since egress costs are primarily driven by data served from the CDN edges to users, caching more content at the edge minimizes the need to fetch and serve data from the origin, thereby reducing overall egress traffic and associated costs.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Switch to a premium tier network for lower egress rates.
Why it's wrong here
Premium tier has higher per-GB egress costs than standard tier.
✗
Enable gzip compression for all responses.
Why it's wrong here
Compression reduces data size but Cloud CDN charges per byte after compression; still, egress costs are based on the compressed size, so savings are limited.
✗
Use Cloud Armor to block malicious traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor protects against attacks but does not reduce legitimate egress costs.
✓
Configure Cloud CDN to cache more content and increase cache hit ratio.
Why this is correct
Higher cache hit ratio reduces the amount of data fetched from the origin, lowering egress costs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse reducing data size (compression) with reducing data volume (caching), or assume that blocking traffic (Cloud Armor) is the primary cost-control mechanism, when in fact increasing cache efficiency is the most direct and effective method to lower egress costs in a CDN architecture.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud CDN uses a distributed cache at Google's edge locations; when a cache miss occurs, the edge fetches the content from the origin, incurring both origin egress and CDN egress costs. By increasing the cache hit ratio (e.g., by setting longer TTLs, using cache keys effectively, or enabling negative caching), you reduce the number of origin fetches, which directly lowers the egress from the origin to the edge and from the edge to the user. In real-world scenarios, a 10% increase in cache hit ratio can reduce egress costs by 10-20% depending on the content type and traffic patterns.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Managing Google Cloud costs — This question tests Managing Google Cloud costs — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure Cloud CDN to cache more content and increase cache hit ratio. — Increasing the cache hit ratio reduces the number of requests that reach the origin server, which directly lowers the volume of data transferred from the origin to the CDN edge. Since egress costs are primarily driven by data served from the CDN edges to users, caching more content at the edge minimizes the need to fetch and serve data from the origin, thereby reducing overall egress traffic and associated costs.
What should I do if I get this PCDOE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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